Is it mandatory to determine sound insulation performance?
Yes, sound insulation is covered under Approved Document E (ADE) of The Building Regulations. There are two ways in which to show compliance. You can either test to the regime set out in ADE, or pay to use Robust Details. Robust Details are a set of specific design details for walls and floors that have been previously tested to show compliance and must be used if this route is selected. The Robust Details scheme means that testing is not necessary, but is strictly limited to the design given in the Robust Details approved list. Testing provides more flexibility by allowing out of the ordinary designs and is often therefore more cost effective in many cases relative to the Robust Details Scheme.
